Chapter 38

She wasn't even promised a wedding, yet she already saw herself as Mrs. Hayes? Was she really that convinced of her place? "Let's just deal with this later," Dominic said, tossing a glance toward the hospital room. Right now, all he cared about was the baby. Everything else could wait. For Emilia, it wasn’t just a premature birth—they were now looking at a difficult one, too. "It hurts... it really, really hurts..." Emilia clutched the sheets beneath her, drenched in sweat. Through tears, she pleaded with the elderly doctor, "Please... can’t you do a C-section? I can’t take the pain..." "No can do. We don’t have the equipment here,” the doctor replied, trying to encourage her. “And even if we rushed you to the main hospital, I doubt we’d make it in time. You’ve got this, just push—don’t give up!” "I can’t... it’s too much..." Outside, Dominic could hear every scream from inside the room. He wasn’t made of stone—it messed with his head. But aside from waiting, there was nothing else he